Sabtu, 30 Juli 2016

Finally back here at Perth after travelling around Gold Coast - Brisbane - Sydney. It's a bit sad that my holiday is almost over and it's time to go back to reality, walking the same street and doing the same old routines. However, that's life and apparently responsibilities and chores are always waiting for me back home. Well on the bright side, I had an AMAZING time seeing other parts of Australia and get to share about my experience with all of you now!

So, about two weeks ago I went to Gold Coast with my church friends for this conference called KOMKIA, it's where Indonesian catholic young adults all around Australia gather together. It was so much fun and I met a lot of awesome people there! But that was only the beginning of my adventure.

Honestly, that was the first time I went travelling with my friends to another state and I was a bit nervous about it. But, it turned out to be better than what I expected! We had lots of fun! We stayed at Mantra apartment in Surfer's Paradise, the location was pretty good and it's walking distance to the beach! On the first day after KOMKIA we walked at the beach during the sunset, and the scenery in the beach really captivated me! Although we didn't see the sun setting, the colours of the sky were pretty satisfying.

During my stay there the weather was mostly always sunny and nice! Unlike Perth, which has been really cold lately. But it was a bit unlucky for me since I packed my luggage full of winter clothes including warm jumpers and long knitted sweaters, haha. But oh well, it's always better to stay extra warm than feeling way too cold :p

On the next day, we went to Warner Bros, Movie World! Yay, finally!!

Even though it turns out to be smaller than I thought and 2 of their main rides were on maintenance, my heart simply drops when I saw the looney tunes started dancing! <3 It felt like my childhood memories were flashing back at me. I still remember watching them on cartoon network until late night, you can never get bored of bugs bunny! ^^

On that day we also had lunch at Hakataya Ramen at Surfer's Paradise, it's really popular in Gold Coast. My favorite dish is their Spicy Miso Ramen. Honestly, I find their soup not as thick as normal ramens but their price is really affordable and you get to top up your first portion of noodle for free. The price range starts from $11. Ramen is a perfect meal on a windy day :3

We also tried Zannette's Gelato, the no.1 gelato in Gold Coast recommended by our friends from KOMKIA. The taste was authentic Italian and they have a lot of variant of flavours. Their gelato was light and not too creamy, just like how gelatos are supposed to be. The owner was the one serving the gelato themselves and were so warm & friendly, wish I had a chance to comeback! Pistachio was definitely my favourite. You have to try this one if you ever visit GC ;)

On my last day at GC, my friends and I also went to Harbour Town. That was where a lot of my holiday budget went. We almost literally shopped at every shop that we entered. Supre & Ally were my favorite though! Thank you to Gaby, Nessya, Patricia and Andre who took me there, I totally didn't regret missing my flight as we all shopped a lot! Haha.

But yes, I did miss my flight! Well, it's a lesson for my next trip to not go on a shopping marathon and rush my way to the airport just a few hours before my flight. Luckily, the ticket from GC to Sydney is actually quite cheap so I just had to pay an extra $50 and my previous luggage weight can be moved to the next flight. Plus, the next flight was only one and a half hour away, it felt like the universe was helping me find my way to Sydney and everything just falls into order or am I just exaggerating things? lol.

Special tips for next GC visitors if you are into rides and roller coasters you have to visit Dream World, on the other hand, if you are travelling with kids and are into the movie characters do visit Movie World because the minimum height for most of their rides is 120cm and children from about 10 years old will most likely be able to go on the rides. I wish I had known this information before I went to GC, as I am a person who enjoys thrills and mad roller coasters, haha. Well if you have time, though, do visit both as you can get 2 different types of amusement.

Cute greeting cards that I saw along the way at Surfer's Paradise Beach.

Children watching the big screen in the middle of the city.

My fellow poke-hunter friends trying to catch pikachu, I think xD

Starbucks cause we don't have it at Perth :(

More movie world snippets :3

Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster was my favourite ride at Movie World, and he is my favorite character as well, yay!

Lastly, here's a video of the looney tunes dance! :3

Well that sums up my trip at GC <3

Special thanks to all the lovely people from KOMKIA that took us around, especially Citra & Budi who went to Movie World with us :3

Jumat, 08 Juli 2016

Hey there!
It's time for another blogpost, yipee!
As you might have known, winter is on it's way to Australia. The temperature may drop down to 3 degrees Celcius here in Perth. What brings the winter vibe better than an ice skating rink!

So about a few days ago, me and my friends went to the winter festival happening in Perth. At the Esplanade Park of Fremantle to be exact. The festival occurs in 4 parts of Australia, Sydney, Brisbane, Fremantle, and Canberra. Started at the end of June and mostly ends on the 17th of July, except for Brisbane, they end on the 10th of July. Which made me a little burdened by having to write this post as soon as possible, before it's too late! Haha.

Honestly speaking the park wasn't that big and there weren't a lot of things to do besides skating and a few slides. But I find the slides less amusing as they are designed for little kids. But I guess that's another positive side of this place for others, as the environment is really children friendly. So it's definitely a good idea to bring you children or probably little siblings down there.

Beside the ice skating rink, there are 3 other rides that you can try.

Toboggan Terror (5 Rides) $10

Real ice toboggan ride with sledges (helmets available). Available for all ages, under 5's need to be accompanied by an adult.

Or you can also get 3 hours unlimited all-ride-pass ($25 online, $35 counter price), this exclude the icerinkthough.

As for the ice skating rink, the price are cheaper if you but your tickets online first, it doesn't matter if you just bought them on the same day or even on the spot. As long as they still have some spots and you just gotta do it online. Each skating session takes up to an hour. The online prices for an hour of skating (gear rental included) start from $8 for children under 5 yo ($11 for the counter price), $12 for children up to 15 yo ($19 for the counter price) and $22 for adults ($28 for the counter price). A family package for 2 Adults and 2 Children is also available at $60.

There is a really good deal from Monday-Wednesday that my friends and I took. It's called the EAT DRINK SKATE program, where we paid for $20 (exclude $2.75 fee) and get a skating session, a jaffle and get to pick an alcoholic beverage. Just in case you are wondering jaffle is another word for toast! haha. Where the jaffle itself already cost up to $9. It's a pretty good deal, isn't it?

We did our online bookings on the spot so we had to wait till it's 6pm to skate because that's the earliest slot that we can get. Since it was still around 4pm, we went to play at the park. Took pictures, climb the monkey bars and had lots of fun! At around 5pm we went to the bar and had our jaffles and drink.

Then finally the time was almost 6pm! Time to skate! Yayy!!
Actually, this is only the second time I went ice skating since my parents used to forbid me when I was younger, they always say that it's dangerous. Well, that's partially true because many accidents happened in ice rinks, so always be very careful when you skate peeps!

Took a few ootd pics :3

Third wheeling be like...

My BBQ Beef brisket + Cheese Jaffle with a glass of Apple Cider

How the skating rink looks like at night

Group pic: Me, Leo, Jeremy & Priscilla

At the end of the day we had so much fun! Although Priscilla hurt her foot :(

Luckily it wasn't that bad and she's all better now <3

This is Sher, a new friend from Queensland that I've just met that day! She's really friendly & nice, looking forward in meeting her again someday! :D